Armitage: Obama conducting foreign policy ‘in a more intelligent way’ than Bush.
Armitage: Obama conducting foreign policy ‘in a more intelligent way’ than Bush.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage spoke earlier this week at the Missouri Boys State, an event that was held on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. During the question and answer period, Armitage was asked about President Obama’s “softer force when dealing with other nations.” “Mr. Obama is in some ways presenting a much better face to the world. I wouldn’t call it a soft face, I’d call it a smart face,” Armitage replied. He then took a subtle dig at President Bush:
ARMITAGE: I think he’s using both our soft and hard power in a more intelligent way. [...] I think he’s using our power more intelligently. And using all the tools in our kit box now, in our tool box. Mr. Bush just used sanctions and force. And I think this gives us a better opportunity to prevail. What is soft power? It’s the ability to attract. You want to persuade, you want to attract them. Hard power is coercive. Well, force them to do something. If you can attract people I think it’s always better. It seems to last longer.
Earlier in the discussion, Armitage said he disagrees with Vice President Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration adding that he should “pipe down.” “I think it’s unseemly,” Armitage said. Later, referring to Colin Powell’s criticism of Republican Party, Armitage said that Powell is just trying to get the GOP to stop acting “like a bunch of knuckleheads.”
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Fleischer Claims ‘Substantial Reform Movement In Iran’ Is ‘Because Of George W. Bush’s Tough Policies’
Fleischer Claims ‘Substantial Reform Movement In Iran’ Is ‘Because Of George W. Bush’s Tough Policies’
The Washington Post’s Al Kamen reports this morning that former Bush flack Ari Fleischer emailed fellow Post reporter Glenn Kessler before any results had been issued in Iran’s hotly-contested presidential election to give credit to his former boss for the “reformists’ surge” there. “[O]ne of the reasons there is a substantial reform movement in Iran — particularly among its young people — is because of George W. Bush’s tough policies,” Fleischer wrote. He continued:
“A big push for reform is because of the desire of Iranians to get out from sanctions, to put an end to the country’s international ostracism,” Fleischer wrote and, most interestingly, “because Shiites in particular see Shiites in Iraq having more freedoms than they do. Bush’s tough policies have helped give rise to the reformists and I think we’re witnessing that today.” [...]
So “I think it’s fair to say the George Bush’s Freedom Agenda planted seeds that have started to grow in the Middle East,” Fleischer concluded.
Aside from the fact that Fleischer’s claim cannot really ever be verified (a tactic former Bush administration officials use when defending their failed policies), it’s clear that Iran’s power in the region has grown significantly in the region since 2001 — a point one wonders if Fleischer will also give Bush credit for.
The Shiites’ “freedom” in Iraq has actually emboldened Iran’s standing and created a key new ally in the region. Iran has emerged as the chief beneficiary of Bush’s fool’s errand in Iraq. As journalist Robert Dreyfuss noted, “Washington’s decision to topple Saddam’s government has put in place a ruling elite that is far closer to Iran than it is to the United States.” But also, Iran’s nuclear program has progressed greatly during the Bush years. Despite his “tough” policies, Iran has inched closer to a nuclear weapon, raising the possibility of greater instability in the region and even perhaps a new war.
It is also worth noting that hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became Iran’s president in 2005 (during Bush’s presidency), supplanting a former moderate who held the office. In fact, reformers there said at the time that they wanted the Bush administration to tone down the harsh rhetoric:
“You are harmful for us. We try to tell politicians in Washington, D.C., please don’t do anything in favor of reform or to promote democracy in Iran. Because in 100% of the cases, it benefits the right wing,” said Saeed Leylaz, a business consultant and advocate of economic reform and greater dialogue with the West.
Steve Benen notes of Flesicher, “[W]hat’s a ‘veteran spinmeister’ to do? Tell reporters on Friday that before anyone looks favorably on the current American leadership, it’s more important to extol the previous American leadership — you know, the one who was widely reviled throughout the Middle East.”
Boehner: Republicans ‘took it in the shorts with Bush-Cheney.’
Boehner: Republicans ‘took it in the shorts with Bush-Cheney.’
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pinned the blame for his party’s current failures on the Bush presidency:
“We’re digging ourselves out of a deep hole,” he admitted. “We took it in the shorts with Bush-Cheney, the Iraq War, and by sacrificing fiscal responsibility to hold power.”
Boehner has only to blame to himself. He voted to authorize use of military force against Iraq, and voted against a House-approved Iraq withdrawal in 2007. He also voted for the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which were largely responsible for turning our nation’s surplus into a massive deficit. As Boehner himself said in 2006, “I think that Republicans ought to stand up and support George W. Bush for the job that he’s done.” (HT: Political Wire)
Rove: Bush Administration Has ‘No’ Responsibility For Current Budget Deficits
Rove: Bush Administration Has ‘No’ Responsibility For Current Budget Deficits
Last night on Fox News, former top Bush adviser Karl Rove chastised President Obama for his economic recovery package Congress passed last February and criticized him for his new proposal to enact “pay as you go” budgeting rules — paying for spending increases by either raising taxes or budget cuts.
“This is a cosmetic gesture. This guy is going to run up a $1.8 trillion deficit. That’s what it’s projected to be this year,” Rove complained. But when host Greta Van Susteren asked if the Bush administration is responsible for any of the deficit, Rove replied, “No.”:
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you take some responsibility, meaning you, the Bush eight years, for this…
ROVE: No.
VAN SUSTEREN: You take absolutely no responsibility? Because…
ROVE: No.
Watch it:
Rove’s denial is odd, not only because the Bush administration turned President Clinton’s budget surplus into massive deficits and left with nearly half a trillion dollars in the hole, but also because Bush presided over the largest debt increase of any U.S. president in history. But the timing of Rove’s denial is odd as well because the New York Times published yesterday the results of an examination of Congressional Budget Office reports going back almost a decade which found that Obama “is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits” and most of his adminstration’s contribution to the deficit is a result of continuing Bush policies:
About 33 percent of the swing stems from new legislation signed by Mr. Bush. That legislation, like his tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit, not only continue to cost the government but have also increased interest payments on the national debt.
Mr. Obama’s main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies, like the Iraq war and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Such policies — together with the Wall Street bailout, which was signed by Mr. Bush and supported by Mr. Obama — account for 20 percent of the swing.
“In other words,” Matt Yglesias writes, “the very high deficits are not Obama’s fault according to any normal way of assessing political blame.” See Yglesias’s pie chart illustrating the Times’s story here.
Liz Cheney Reveals That Fear Of Prosecution Motivates Dad’s Media Blitz Defending Torture
Liz Cheney Reveals That Fear Of Prosecution Motivates Dad’s Media Blitz Defending Torture
Since President Obama released Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel memos detailing the authorization of the Bush administration’s torture program, Vice President Cheney has taken to the public airwaves on numerous occasions, not only attacking Obama’s security policies but vigorously defending what he perceives (wrongly) as the efficacy of torture. “I’m convinced, absolutely convinced, that we saved thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of lives,” Cheney said recently on CBS.
In response, many in the media have asked why Cheney — someone who had avoided the media at all costs during his eight years as vice president — would be airing his opinions in such a forceful and public way. Indeed, Cheney himself has answered this question, claiming he is speaking out because he believes that torture and other Bush administration anti-terror policies — many of which Obama is abandoning — were “exactly the right thing to do” and that “there isn’t anybody there on the other side to tell the truth.”
In turn, media figures have answered the question in much the same way. “I think he genuinely believes we are threatened now more because of what Obama is doing,” MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan has said. CNN’s David Gergen said, “I think Dick Cheney almost has a Churchillian view of this, and that is somebody has got to stand up and be the voice in the wilderness.” But while the narrative of Cheney’s motives focuses mainly on the righteous, it has all but ignored the selfish — that Cheney is trying to muddle the public debate with the goal of reducing public support for a criminal inquiry into the torture regime that he authorized.
Last night on CNN, however, Cheney’s daughter Liz revealed that fear of prosecution is indeed a motivating factor in the former vice president’s current media campaign:
L. CHENEY: I don’t think he planned to be doing this, you know, when they left office in January. But I think, as it became clear that President Obama was not only going to be stopping some of these policies, that he was going to be doing things like releasing the — the techniques themselves, so that the terrorists could now train to them, that he was suggesting that perhaps we would even be prosecuting former members of the Bush administration.
Watch it:
Does Liz Cheney also fear that her dad will be prosecuted for his role in the Bush administration’s torture program? Perhaps so. As Steve Benen has noted, “Liz Cheney has been all over the television news” as well, with “12 appearances, in nine and a half days, spanning four networks.”
Bush: ‘It’s a liberating feeling’ that I am no longer president.
Bush: ‘It’s a liberating feeling’ that I am no longer president.
New Mexico’s Roswell Daily Record reports that during a speech to graduating local high school students, President Bush “expressed few regrets” about the policies he enacted as president. At the same time, however, Bush said that he’s glad he’s not in the position to make policy anymore. “I no longer feel that great sense of responsibility that I had when I was in the Oval Office,” he said. “And frankly, it’s a liberating feeling.” Bush also remarked on how his life is “back to normal”:
Bush told the soon-to-be-graduates that it was a strange experience walking his dog Barney in his new neighborhood after he moved back to Texas.
“I realized this was the first time I’d been walking in a neighborhood for 14 years,” he said. “It’s not all that hard, by the way. You take one step, and then you take another.”
It was the first time Barney had ever been in an ordinary neighborhood, and Bush had to stop when the dog took liberties with a neighbor’s yard.
“And there I was, former President of the United States of America, with a plastic bag on my hand,” he recalled. “Life is returning back to normal.”
Karen Hughes ‘worried’ that torture would harm U.S. image, was ‘very vocal’ in internal debate.
Karen Hughes ‘worried’ that torture would harm U.S. image, was ‘very vocal’ in internal debate.
Last month, Phillip Zelikow disclosed that while serving as a top-aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005, he had written and circulated a memo expressing grave concerns about the Bush administration’s torture regime. Another memo Zelikow co-authored at around the same time even offered a legal alternative to the program. Now, it turns out that strong opposition to President Bush’s interrogation policies came from within his tight-knit inner circle. Karen Hughes, counselor to the president, told the Houston Chronicle this week that she was “very vocal in the internal debate”:
She acknowledged the current uproar over interrogation tactics and allegations of prisoner torture during the Bush years.
“I was very vocal in the internal debate,” she said. “I worried about how that would make us look in the eyes of the world. But I had left the White House when a lot of that was taking place.”
Then she paused, worried for the first time in 90 minutes that she’d made a gaffe. Whatever Sen. John McCain says about interrogation techniques, she added quickly, she has similar views.
Bush Flashback: “War Crimes Will Be Prosecuted…It Will Be No Defense To Say, ‘I Was Just Following Orders’”
Bush Flashback: “War Crimes Will Be Prosecuted…It Will Be No Defense To Say, ‘I Was Just Following Orders’”
Just before launching his invasion of Iraq, President Bush went on national television to issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, urging him to leave his country within 48 hours. Bush also had this message for “all Iraqi military and civilian personnel”:
War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, “I was just following orders.”
Watch it:
George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley argues that this statement by Bush shows that “he and his administration knew that there is no ‘good faith defense’ in committing war crimes.”
Bush also understood the need for full investigations and accountability when it comes to torture. After the Abu Ghraib scandal, Bush told Al Arabiya: “It’s important for people to understand that in a democracy, there will be a full investigation. In other words, we want to know the truth. In our country, when there’s an allegation of abuse … there will be a full investigation, and justice will be delivered.” (See the video here.)
Steve Benen responds, “It seems to me if Democrats are looking for an excuse to do the right thing, they don’t have to say much more than, ‘We’re doing what Bush told us to do.’”
Please join our campaign calling on Congress to begin impeachment hearings against Jay Bybee.
Bush Loyalists Grade Obama’s Foreign Policy: A ‘Pathological Proclivity To Apologize’ For America
Bush Loyalists Grade Obama’s Foreign Policy: A ‘Pathological Proclivity To Apologize’ For America
Foreign Policy magazine “asked some of the best foreign-policy minds in Washington and beyond” to rate President Obama’s first 100 days in office. “The result? 11 As, 16 Bs, 7 Cs, and a D,” Foreign Policy noted. Some of these “best foreign-policy minds” also included a number of neoconservatives and President Bush’s staunchest defenders. Surprisingly, not all of them trashed Obama’s first 100 days:
– Meghan O’Sullivan, Bush’s deputy national security adviser: Grade - B+ “President Obama deserves the high marks for his treatment of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in his first 100 days. [...] On Iraq in particular, he deserves kudos and gets an A-.”
– Robert Kagan, Carnegie Endowment fellow: Grade - A-/B+ “President Obama scores high on Afghanistan and Iraq. [...] His policy toward Iran makes sense, so long as he is ready with a serious Plan B if the negotiating track with Tehran fails. His policies toward Russia are sound.”
While Kagan’s opinion of Obama’s Iran policy appears slightly enhanced from just last month with the added caveat of “a serious plan B,” he later said he would have given Obama an A- had he not “thrown a bouquet” to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the summit of the Americas last week.
But the rest of the Bush loyalists on Foreign Policy’s list weren’t so friendly. Much of their displeasure with Obama seemed to center around the notion that Obama has somehow been spending his first 100 days in office apologizing to the world:
– Elliot Abrams, served on Bush’s National Security Council: Grade - D “The ‘apology tours’ are not the administration’s worst offense, and would only merit a C. The D reflects the abandonment of brave men and women throughout the world fighting for human rights and civil liberties.”
– Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute: Grade - C “Some will be tempted to inflate their grade, as Obama has fashioned himself the anti-Bush. But ‘I’m not him’ is not a foreign policy, nor is an almost pathological proclivity to apologize for American power and leadership. [...] Obama looks increasingly desperate.
– Peter Feaver, Duke University Professor: Grade - B- “What will matter is not whether Chávez says nice things about Obama, but whether the revived soft power brings real results. And it will get harder and harder to win applause lines by apologizing for the policies of your predecessor when you continue them in important respects.
“I think it expresses confidence,” Vice President Joe Biden said of Obama’s interactions with Chávez during an interview that aired last night on 60 Minutes. He also specifically took issue with critics who say Obama is apologizing to the world for the U.S. “I don’t know what he’s apologized for. For example, saying we should close Guantanamo is not an apology. That’s not an apology saying…we don’t engage in torture. He didn’t go out and say, ‘Oh, my God, the fact that the last administration did these things — we’re so sorry.’ He did say - he just said, ‘We don’t do torture any more.’”
Fleischer On Torture Memos: ‘I Have No Problem With’ Sleep Deprivation
Fleischer On Torture Memos: ‘I Have No Problem With’ Sleep Deprivation
While discussing the recent release of Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel torture memos last night on CNN, host Anderson Cooper asked President Bush’s former press secretary Ari Fleischer if he believes that torture took place. “Waterboarding is pretty close to the line,” Fleischer responded. “Sleep deprivation,” however, “I have no problem with,” he said.
Cooper noted that the torture tactics OLC lawyers authorized were “techniques that the Nazis used,” but Fleischer dismissed this concern. “I think it’s all how it’s conducted and to what extent things go,” he added, justifying the techniques because “medical people” were “present.” Watch it:
Either Fleischer hasn’t read the memos or he thinks hanging detainees from shackles to keep them awake is fine. The May 30, 2005 memo says that “shackling is used only as a passive means of keeping the detainee awake,” and therefore does not constitute torture. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross documented this technique’s true effect:
Although this position prevented most detainees from sleeping, three of the detainees stated that they did fall asleep once or more while shackled in this position. [...] When they did fall asleep held in this position, the whole weight of their bodies was effectively suspended from the shackled wrists, transmitting the strain through the arms to the shoulders.
Despite Fleischer’s relief that doctors were present during the interrogations, some medical professionals overseeing the harsh techniques actually enabled some of them. Moreover, the Bush administration manipulated scientists’ work on sleep deprivation to justify the tactic. One scientist equated the CIA’s use of his study results to the overdosing of medication. “It’s like giving a drug to a patient: if you administer it in small doses for therapeutic reasons, it helps them. If you give it in huge volumes, it becomes toxic — and can even kill them.”
Many conservatives, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, have been arguing over the past few days that the torture tactics these memos approved are justified because they “work” (they don’t). However, it doesn’t appear that Fleischer has received the memo. Later in the segment Cooper asked, “If it works, do you think, then, it’s justified?” “No, I don’t,” Fleischer replied.
Bartlett: Bush not sitting around thinking, ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda.’
Bartlett: Bush not sitting around thinking, ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda.’
Today, the Washington Post has a front-page story about what President Bush has been up to since leaving office. His activities include working on his book, traveling once a week to “give a speech or raise money for his $300 million presidential center,” and donating canned goods to local Cub Scouts. One thing he’s not doing? Reflecting on what he could have done better during his two terms in office:
Bush feels content with his presidency, friends said. Now he will try to explain his two terms by writing a book and building a presidential center at Dallas’s Southern Methodist University so that history will have the means to judge him fairly.
“Over the course of being president for eight years, you become, in some respects, immune to all the noise out there,” said Dan Bartlett, who was a senior aide to Bush for more than a decade. “He’s secure in the place he’s in. He’s confident in the decisions he made. There’s none of that ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda.’”
Next week, approximately 20 members of the old Bush gang are getting together for a reunion in Dallas, although Vice President Cheney is not expected to show up.
Bush Releases New Promo Video For His Library, Highlighting 9/11 And Largely Ignoring Iraq
Bush Releases New Promo Video For His Library, Highlighting 9/11 And Largely Ignoring Iraq
Former deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel has posted a new video of President Bush promoting his presidential library. In the five-minute video, there are a full 35 seconds of clips of 9/11 and Bush’s subsequent reaction. However, there is just one mention of Iraq in the entire piece. Additioanlly, Bush promises to use his library “policy center” to be “front and center” pushing for another attempt to privatize Social Security:
BUSH: At some point in time, the Congress is going to have to fix the Social Security system. I‘d like the center to be front and center in that debate and propose solutions. … Compassion ought to be the center of our domestic and foreign policy. … Some call it consequential, some call it controversial, either way it’ll be a well studied Presidency.
Watch it:
George W. Bush Presidential Center from laura crawford on Vimeo
In January, Bush cited his failed attempt to privatize Social Security as one of his biggest domestic policy achievements. Rather than being a place for ’studying’ the Bush era, the library foundation has already been trying to spin Bush’s disastrous response to hurricane Katrina.
It should come as no surprise that Bush is seeking to use his library for purposes other than actually documenting his presidency. As Think Progress has reported, there are no mentions of Iraq in Bush’s official biography on the library website. Rather, like the actual Bush presidency, the Bush library appears to be aiming to highlight the attacks of 9/11 while ignoring the history and the failures of the Iraq war.
(ThinkProgress has been keeping a close eye on developments with the Bush library, and we will continue to do so. Read our related posts here.)
Bush officials: After Iraq invasion, Europeans hid Iran intel because they feared a U.S. attack.
Bush officials: After Iraq invasion, Europeans hid Iran intel because they feared a U.S. attack.
Today in an email to Fox News, David Wurmser, former top aide to Vice President Cheney, cautioned the Obama administration on its hopes that Russia is willing to get tougher on Iran regarding its nuclear program. Wurmser said that between 2003 and 2006, Russia “threatened tough action, but even somewhat delivered.” But in a twist of logic, Wurmser basically says that it was the U.S. invasion of Iraq that led to less cooperation on Iran’s nuclear program from Russia and other European countries:
But the American-led invasion of Iraq complicated the Bush administration’s efforts to persuade other countries to take aggressive action to contain Iran’s nuclear threat. [...]
“Every time in this period I landed in a European capital at [U.N. Ambassador] John Bolton’s request to discuss Iran, the first thing I got was: ‘What is your end game here; are you going to use the information to pull another Iraq? Tell us where you are going with this before we tell you how much we will admit Iran is going down the path to a bomb in the U.N.’ When I failed to give them a guarantee that we will not strike Iran, they stalled on moving ahead with acknowledging or using the evidence in public which in private they accepted.”
Bolton also indicated that the Iraq war stifled progress with Iran. “Before the Iraq war, I thought we were breaking through to [the Russians],” Bolton said today. “Since 2003, they have been very resistant to the idea that Iran was a proliferation threat.”
Texas Rangers fans give Bush a rousing ovation as he throws out first pitch.
Texas Rangers fans give Bush a rousing ovation as he throws out first pitch.
When then-President Bush delivered the first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener last year, he was met with a resounding chorus of boos. However, today a crowd of 40,000 Texas Rangers fans cheered wildly when the stadium’s public address announcer bellowed, “[W]elcome home the 43rd president.” Bush — a former partial owner of the team — then took the mound and received a standing ovation as he threw out the first pitch. “He threw a strike!” the announcer declared. Watch it:
Perhaps this in an indication of why Bush — one the most unpopular presidents of all time — chose to spend his post-presidency life in Dallas.
Cheney to keep vice presidential records, will not allow them to go to Bush library ‘for now.’
Cheney to keep vice presidential records, will not allow them to go to Bush library ‘for now.’
The Dallas Morning News reports that “for now,” former Vice President Dick Cheney’s records will not be going to the George W. Bush presidential library at Southern Methodist University. Cheney’s team said the former VP needs them to write his memoirs. “It made more sense and was more convenient to keep them in D.C.,” said a Cheney spokesperson. The secrecy even appears to extend to Cheney’s artifacts and gifts:
During talks last year, the National Archives suggested that Cheney’s artifacts — like a set of gold Murano glass candlesticks and bowls from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi — be sent to the Bush library. That way they could be displayed with Bush’s items, including the 9 mm pistol that Saddam Hussein held when captured by American soldiers in Iraq.
“The VP preferred to have the VP artifacts remain with the records,” said Sharon Fawcett, assistant archivist for presidential libraries.
As Vice President, Cheney ordered the Secret Service to destroy records of his visitor logs.
DHS wasted nearly $16,000 publishing book of Chertoff’s speeches.
DHS wasted nearly $16,000 publishing book of Chertoff’s speeches.
On January 28, ThinkProgress reported that the Department of Homeland Security published and distributed an entire book (315 pages) honoring former Secretary Michael Chertoff’s “Select Speeches” despite the fact that most — if not all — are likely available online. Moreover, this particular homage was not given to his predecessor, Tom Ridge. Days later, a DHS spokesperson told ThinkProgress that the “project cost approximately $11,200 and came from DHS Chief of Staff funds.” However, ThinkProgress has now obtained a FOIA request filed by TP reader Michael Ter Avest which reveals that the actual cost of the entire production, including CDs, books, layout and design, totaled $15,965.26:
This is the final response to your January 28, 2009, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for records reflecting the cost of editing, publishing, and distributing the DHS publication Select Speeches, a volume of public statements of then Secretary Chertoff from 2005-2008. Your request was received in this office on March 16, 2009. […]
[T]he following information is provided, which is responsive to your request:
CD - $1,549.37
Books - $9,097.15
Layout and design - $5,318.74
Total — $15,965.26
Ashcroft Greeted By Protests In Texas: ‘I Think History Will Be Very Kind’ To Bush
Ashcroft Greeted By Protests In Texas: ‘I Think History Will Be Very Kind’ To Bush
Yesterday, former attorney general John Ashcroft spoke at the University of Texas at Austin on the differences between the Obama and Bush administrations in a lecture hosted by the Young Conservatives of Texas and College Republicans. Although “[m]ost in attendance were respectful of Ashcroft’s right to speak,” he was greeted by a group of protesters who waved “signs of dissent” and booed when he first appeared.
During his speech, Ashcroft launched a vociferous defense of both Bush’s career and his own, saying that history will judge Bush well. While he said that the former president made some mistakes, Ashcroft said that his own record was perfect: “I don’t have a mark on my conscience.” From the report by the Daily Texan:
“I think history will be very kind to [former President George W. Bush],” Ashcroft said as he began discussing the powers of the president, drawing cheers and gasps.
Ashcroft acknowledged the fact that Bush is not a perfect man and made some mistakes. [...]
At one point Ashcroft noticed a dry-erase board to the side of the stage and began to describe the overlap of power between Congress and the president to declare war. As Ashcroft made his way to the right side of the stage, one protester made sure to exclaim, “No, it’s not a waterboard!” Ashcroft didn’t hear him and proceeded to draw a Venn diagram. [...]
Ashcroft said he doesn’t regret any decisions he made during his time as attorney general. “I don’t have a mark on my conscience,” Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft’s appearance was part of a blitz by former Bush administration officials to secure a good legacy for their boss. Both Vice President Cheney and former White House flack Ari Fleischer recently tried to justify the war in Iraq by falsely tying together Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda (again). Loyal Bushies have even started a Bush-Cheney alumni association to “help build a lasting legacy.” Karl Rove, the man behind securing Bush’s reputation, plans to release a book that will “name names” of all the Bush haters.
Since Ashcroft can’t seem to remember any of his misdeeds, we’re here to help him out: He was the chief architect of the invasive Patriot Act, and maintains to this day that Bush is “among the most respectful of all leaders ever” of civil liberties. Of course, in 2003, he also approved waterboarding and other torture techniques on detainees.
The Daily Texan notes that the only time the entire audience cheered for Ashcroft was when he “pok[ed] fun at his own political past,” noting how he lost the 2000 Missouri U.S. Senate race to a deceased rival.
‘Small crowd’ on street corner greets Bush in Florida, while block-long line of people camp out for Obama in LA.
‘Small crowd’ on street corner greets Bush in Florida, while block-long line of people camp out for Obama in LA.
Today, President Bush is attending a private fundraiser in Jacksonville, FL, to gin up support for his $300 million presidential library. At the luncheon, Bush also planned to speak about the economy and “thank local Republicans for their support.” Local CBS affiliate WTEV-TV broadcast from outside the venue for the event today, showing a few people standing on a street corner to greet the former president. The reporter called it a “small crowd.” Watch it:
Compare Bush’s reception to that of Obama, who will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening. People hoping for tickets camped out all night — more than 10 hours — with the line stretching all the way down the block:
Even though Duval County GOP spokesperson Donna Barrow said that “Jacksonville is Bush Country,” Jacksonville’s mayor — who is a Republican — turned down Bush’s invite for today’s lunch.
(ThinkProgress has been keeping a close eye on developments with the Bush library, and we will continue to do so. Read our related posts here.)
Bush: ‘I want the President to succeed.’
Bush: ‘I want the President to succeed.’
Former Vice President Dick Cheney seized an opportunity to attack President Obama during an interview on CNN last Sunday, saying Obama’s policies “raise the risk” of another terror attack in the U.S. Offering more class than his former VP, former President Bush yesterday declined to criticize Obama. In a seeming rebuke to Cheney, Bush said, “I love my country a lot more than I love politics,” he said:
“He was not my first choice for president, but, when he won, I thought it was good for the United States of America,” Mr. Bush said.
“I want the President to succeed,” he added, “I love my country a lot more than I love politics…I’m not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in that arena,” he continued.
Bush said that Obama “deserves my silence and if he wants my help he can pick up the phone and call me,” adding, “I think it is essential that he be helped in office.” Bush’s desire to see Obama succeed stands in stark contrast to many of his Republican friends on Capitol Hill and their leader, Rush Limbaugh. Will Limbaugh criticize Bush for not sharing his hope that Obama fails?
Perino Defends AIG Bonuses: They Are ‘Middle Class People’ Who ‘Are Expecting To Get This Bonus’
Perino Defends AIG Bonuses: They Are ‘Middle Class People’ Who ‘Are Expecting To Get This Bonus’
Reports over the weekend that bailed-out insurance giant AIG will be paying $165 million in bonuses to executives “in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year” have sparked bipartisan outrage. Even ultra-conservative Bill Kristol expressed his anger in a column yesterday, asking rhetorically, “[I]f capitalism is to survive, shouldn’t the Republican party, the party that defends democratic capitalism, be particularly vehement in denouncing its excesses? Isn’t this a pretty spectacular one?”
However, it seems that Dana Perino, former President Bush’s press secretary, didn’t receive the memo. On C-Span’s Washington Journal on Sunday, Perino defended the bonuses:
PERINO: And the people who are working there that are middle-class people, are expecting to get this bonus. If they do not get it, maybe they won’t be motivated enough to try to help the company turn around and getting the company to turn around and be more profitable is important for all of us.
Perino then chastised the “rhetoric in Washington” that “can try to make things so black and white, and make things sound so easy — demonize people when I don’t think that that’s fair.” Watch it:
It appears that Perino either doesn’t know who is set to receive the bonuses or is unaware what it means to be “middle class” (i.e. those American households that generally make between $40,000 and $70,000 per year). In fact, while as of Sunday, it was unclear what the salary range is for the executives who are set to get the bonuses, as The New York Times reported at the time, some of them will receive more than $3 million in bonuses alone.
A new Wonk Room analysis notes that under Bush’s tax system, these AIG executives will collectively take home $7.5 million more dollars more than they would have in the 1990s. But President Obama’s budget would effectively eliminate the Bush tax bonuses, allow middle class families to save as much as $800 per year, and invest in health care, renewable energy and education.
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